Jeff Bezos' Space Company Enters Partnership To Build Next Gen Rocket Engine

Blue Origin tests its BE-3 rocket engine. (Credit: Blue Origin)

The Jeff Bezos-founded commercial space company Blue Origin announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance. The jointly-funded partnership is aimed at developing the BE-4, a new, U.S.-built rocket engine to be used in ULAs next generation of rockets.

The BE-4 will be fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen gas to produce a total of about 550,000 pounds of thrust. Blue Origin has already built a liquid natural gas testing facility in Texas, and the company says that testing of various engine components is already underway. The goal of the partnership is to have the BE-4 engine ready for testing by 2016 and flight by 2019. Two BE-4 engines will be used for ULAs next-gen rocket in order to deliver a combined thrust of 1,100,000 lbf.

In December 2013, Blue Origin debuted the BE-4s predecessor engine, the BE-3. That engine is a liquid hydrogen fueled engine that can deliver 110,000 pounds of thrust.

One thing that was mentioned today by the two companies is that contrary to previous reports, the BE-4 is not intended to serve as a replacement for the Russian-built RD-180, which currently serves as the primary engine for ULAs Atlas V rocket.

The BE-4 is not a direct replacement for the RD-180 that powers ULAs Atlas V rocket, however two BE-4s are expected to provide the engine thrust for the next generation ULA vehicles, the companies said in a FAQ document sent to the media. The details related to ULAs next generation vehicles which will maintain the key heritage components of ULAs Atlas and Delta rockets that provide world class mission assurance and reliability will be announced at a later date.

According to both ULA and Blue Origin, this development will be 100% privately funded no government money involved. However, the engine will be built to meet Air Force requirements for its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, for which ULA is the primary vendor. Both companies aim to develop the engine in a way that reduces the costs of current launches.

The team at Blue Origin is methodically developing technologies to enable human access to space at dramatically lower cost and increased reliability, and the BE-4 is a big step forward, Bezos said in a statement. With the new ULA partnership, were accelerating commercial development of the next great US-made rocket engine.

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Jeff Bezos' Space Company Enters Partnership To Build Next Gen Rocket Engine